Features of personal income inequality before and during the crisis: an analysis of Italian regions

This paper gives extensive evidence about disposable income inequality inside the regions of Italy and its associated population features. It explores whether the Great Recession changed income inequality within or between regions. Inequality appears largely to be a within-region problem, particularly in the South, and the crisis exacerbated this phenomenon. Middle-class women, migrants and large households in the middle/bottom classes, and bottom-class mothers worsened their income status with the crisis. Education was an important absorber for middle-class individuals, while married status and employment protected bottom-class individuals. Yet, large heterogeneity exists across regions.